


Simple choices

by CherryBlossomLesbian



Series: Prompt Fills [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Past Brainwashing, Past Torture, Prompt Fill, Sleep Deprivation, Swearing, Tony tries his best, ambiguous timeline where everybody are friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27171928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryBlossomLesbian/pseuds/CherryBlossomLesbian
Summary: Sleep deprivation and a certain phrase send Bucky back into the mindset of the Winter Soldier.It's not the terrifying image that's told in legends, however. He looks like a scared child and he doesn't know who he is and is pleading with who he thinks is his handler.In reality, the handler is just Peter trying his best.Tony, Steve, and Sam also help.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker
Series: Prompt Fills [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978546
Comments: 10
Kudos: 88





	Simple choices

**Author's Note:**

> That summary sucks, I know. Hopefully the prompt will make the story make more sense.
> 
> Prompt:  
> “I’m a good weapon,” they promised, fervent and almost pleading. “I’m powerful, and easily controlled, a-and I’ll do anything you ask, anything at all!”
> 
> [Original prompt post](https://gingerly-writing.tumblr.com/post/626086355336871936/prompt-2476)
> 
> Note: Bucky mentions getting "punished" a lot when he thinks he's the soldier. Its because he thinks he's doing something wrong and the handlers are going to hurt him because of it. Nobody hurts him, and everything ends happy.

"C'mon, Buck, you haven't gotten up since this morning." 

He groaned. 

"I told you, Rogers. Sleep deprivation doesn't mix well with crowded restaurants." He shot back, continuing to scroll through TV channels. 

He was sitting on the couch in the common room, wearing the sweatpants and sweater he'd worn to bed last night, covered with a fuzzy blanket and a pillow supporting his head. He'd been like this since breakfast. 

Sleep deprivation sucked. It'd only been two nights so far, and he'd gone a lot longer, but just because it wasn't as bad as it could get or that he was used to it didn't mean it didn't suck all the same. 

It especially sucked when Steve spent the entire day trying to get him to go out and hang out with Sam and him- the latest temptation was going out to eat at one of Bucky's favorite restaurants, just because of how they seasoned their french fries. 

Anyway, he wasn't falling for it. He just wanted to lay down until his migraine passed, and he was stubborn about it. Steve was stubborn in his own actions too. 

So it was unstoppable force versus unmovable object. 

And currently, the unmovable object was winning. 

"Steve, just let him rest." Sam said, defending Bucky for some reason. Usually he was against him, no matter the argument. "We'll bring you a takeout bag of fries, Barnes." 

"What, you're actually being nice to me, Wilson?" He countered back. He was in pain, but not enough he couldn't at least do a little of his normal banter with Sam. 

"Don't get too used to it." Sam said in a playful tone. "We'll be back, Stark and the kid are in the lab if there's an emergency." 

And with that, it was just Bucky and the TV. 

And it was just one decision. A simple choice. 

Animal Planet or National Geographic. 

Simple choices were his favorite. A yes or no answer, one or the other. It wasn't a hard debate or anything, nothing that would negativity affect him. 

He chose National Geographic and happily watched a documentary on parrots as the minutes passed. 

Then Parker came down to the common area, heading straight to the main kitchen. 

Bucky decided he should probably at least attempt human interaction with the kid. 

"Hey, kid." He spoke quietly, but Parker all but jumped out of his skin at the voice, eyes darting around to search for the source. 

He took a deep sigh of relief when he spotted Bucky on the couch. 

"Sergeant Barnes! I didn't...I didn't see you there. Weren't you going out for food?"

He chuckles lightly, and the kid looks mildly shocked- truthfully, they haven't had much interaction, and he'd probably been taught or read somewhere how terrifying and ruthless the Winter Soldier was, so he wasn't expecting that fearsome creature to laugh in any capacity. 

"That was Stevie's wishful thinking." He shakes his head. His eyes want to fall shut at this point, but he knows he can let them close and get all cozy and in bed and he still won't be able to sleep. Maybe tonight, but definitely not now. After all, he hasn't finished the parrot documentary. 

"Oh, okay." Parker says, opening the fridge in the kitchen to rummage around in. "Hey, you want some milk?" 

A switch flipped in his mind. 

It wasn't a switch where he went from completely docile to dangerous, no. 

It was a switch where he went from living in the Avenger's Tower to living in an endless nightmare of torture and punishment and no choices at all. 

"Sergeant Barnes?" A voice called, but they must be looking for somebody else. The name was familiar, but it wasn't his. 

He didn't have a name. Weapons don't need names. 

The voice came closer until it was looking down at him, the face of the voice looking concerned. 

Handler. It must be. 

"Handler?" He questioned, eyebrow quirked. 

The expression on the face grew horrified. 

Had he done something wrong? Was he going to get punished? 

"Okay, um, Mr.Stark-" Handler called out. 

"No!" He cut him off. He wasn't supposed to speak out of turn, but he didn't want to be punished. 

"I'm a good weapon." He pleaded, wrapping his flesh arm around the handler's wrist that was just barely within reach. "I'm powerful, and easily controlled, I'll do anything you want!" 

"That's okay. I don't need you to do anything." The handler says, but that doesn't sound right. Why is the handler around if he's not needed? Why is he even awake if he's not needed? 

The handler sees the puzzlement on his face, and states, "I just need you to be quiet for one minute, okay?"

He nods his head back and forth in a rapid motion, overjoyed to have an order. 

"FRIDAY? Can you tell Mr. Stark to get down here, like, right now?" The handler yells at the ceiling, and his heart drops. He's bringing in backup, that must mean punishment. 

But he doesn't complain. He was told to stay quiet, he's not going to disobey. Especially not if he's already going to be punished. 

"Alright, you can talk now. If you want to." The handler says, and he nods, a bit less enthusiastically than the last time. He doesn't have anything to say. He's not really allowed to think all that much. If he thinks, then he'll remember things he's not allowed to remember and he'll get punished even more. 

The handler waits anxiously until the backup arrives. He taps his hand on his thigh, a methodical motion with no real logical outcome. 

A loud "ding" sound reverberates around the walls, and the new handler steps in. 

"Hey, Pete, whatcha need-" The second handler says, before looking directly where the first handler's wrist is trapped between the weapon's fist. "Barnes. What are you doing." 

"He doesn't know his name." The first handler says. The weapon stays out of this conversation, as he's supposed to. Handlers can talk between each other, and he's expected to stay quiet. 

"What? Is he violent?" Handler two asks. 

"The opposite." Handler one replied with a large gulp of air, as if he is scared. "He, uh, was asking for orders, I think. He called me handler. He called himself a weapon." 

Realization strikes handler two, his eyes changing hue for a moment. 

"Oh, lord. FRIDAY, call Steve and Sam, say it's an emergency and they should get back ASAP." The second handler says to the ceiling, and the ceiling replies back with an "Of course, Boss." 

Is this man not a handler? Is he the boss? Is he the highest in command at this base? 

"Boss?" He questions, knowing he wasn't supposed to interrupt but curious about how this base worked. Everyone was acting so strange. 

"No, no, no." Handler two shakes his head. "That's just for FRIDAY. She's not a person, just an AI, artificial intelligence. You, however, are a person. Your name is James Barnes, you insist everyone call you Bucky. He-" He points to the first handler. "Is Peter Parker. He won't call you Bucky no matter how hard you try, he likes to be formal, I can never understand why. No handler. Nobody controls you." 

He cocks his head to the side, still puzzled.

"How did Steve snap you out of this, uh." The second handler thinks for a moment. "Okay, uh, Steve Rogers is your best friend. You guys used to hang out or something- fuck, how do I do this-" 

The ding sound returns, and there's a voice screaming for him.

For him. 

For Bucky. 

That's him.

He's in Avenger's Tower, hasn't slept for two nights- 

What just happened? 

"Steve?' He asks, and the second handler- Stark, not a handler, says "There we go!" 

"What the hell happened?" Wilson asks, and Bucky realizes his hand is wrapped around Parker's wrist. 

He quickly pulls away. 

"I don't really know yet." Stark explains. "Pete said he just started calling him handler." 

"Flashback." Steve nods. "Peter, did you say anything before this happened?" 

"Yeah, I asked him if he wanted some milk." The kid responds, and Bucky's head starts to hurt. 

Fucking Pierce. This wouldn't have happened if that piece of shit didn't decide that asking a completely compliant brainwashed assassin if he wanted milk was a valid method of torture. 

"Mhm." Bucky sighs. "I understand why that happened now." 

Nobody asks for an explanation past that. Nobody was hurt, just a little startled. There's no need to do anything past acknowledging it happened, and to not ask Bucky if he wants milk in the future, especially not when he's sleep deprived. 

Apparently Sam and Steve were already on their way out when they got the alert there was an emergency, so there's at least a bag of his favorite fries after he calms down enough to eat. 

He continues to lay on the couch as he eats, and Sam and Steve join him. Sam insists on watching some game-show that's weirdly educational for both him and Steve. A lot of the questions are about things that happened in the past that him and Steve were brainwashed/asleep for, respectively. 

Steve serves them all a bowl of ice cream before he's hushed to bed. 

He's not surprised the flashback took enough energy out of him to beat even sleep deprivation, letting him be lulled into sleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

Maybe he doesn't like simple choices. At least, not certain ones.

**Author's Note:**

> if you'd like to submit a prompt for me to write, check out the notes of my prompt fills series this fic is in! 
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/cartersleia)
> 
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